REGINA — “Ecumenism is something God has already given us in Christ. Our calling is to live into it,” said Bishop Helen Kennedy at the final service of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity (WPCU) on Jan. 25 at the Living Spirit Centre.
“Today, we gather as Christians who do not all worship in the same place, who do not always speak the same theological language, and who do not share the same histories. And yet, we hear in Ephesians, ‘There is one body and one Spirit… one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all.’”
Each year, the WPCU highlights one denomination, which prepares services that are used around the world. The Armenian Apostolic Orthodox Church was highlighted in 2026, and chose the title “Light from Light for Light” for the service. It was adapted from the “Sunrise Service,” one of the daily prayer-hours of the Armenian Church.
Information provided in the service bulletin said the service has no counterpart in other denominations, and “has a specifically ecumenical intent: to return to Christ’s embrace a sect of sun-worshipping pagans active in Armenia in the 1100s. The imagery of Christ the Light suffuses the prayers, hymns and Scripture readings … and surely would have attracted the interest of the sun-worshippers.”
All the hymns featured the theme of light: Here in this place new light is streaming (Gather us in), Christ be our light, The church’s one foundation, and the closing hymn, We are marching in the Light.
“When Jesus says in today’s Gospel, ‘Walk while you have the light, so that the darkness may not overtake you,’ said the bishop, “this is not about daylight savings time. Jesus is talking about our faith, and He is not speaking only to individuals about private faith. Jesus’s words are for a community then and our community now — a people who are called to walk together.”
The Old Testament reading was from Isaiah 58:6-11 in which God challenges His people that being religiously observant is not enough, and describes the kind of fasting He wants: Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of injustice, to undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and to bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover them, and not to hide yourself from your own kin?
“In other words,” said the bishop in her sermon, “worship that does not lead to justice is incomplete. Faith that does not move outward toward mercy and compassion is hollow. And unity that does not express itself in love for the vulnerable is not the unity of Christ. Then comes the promise: Then your light shall break forth like the dawn.
“Notice again: the light comes when God’s people act together for the sake of others. Unity becomes visible not when Christians agree on everything, but when we stand side by side in acts of justice, healing, and hope. The world recognizes the light of Christ not through our arguments, but through our shared love.
Referring to the epistle of Ephesians 4:1-13, Kennedy said, “Unity, Paul reminds us, is not uniformity. Christ gives different gifts to different people so that the whole body may grow into maturity. We need one another — not despite our differences, but because of them. Christian unity is not about erasing distinction; it is about learning how to belong to one another in Christ.”
About three dozen people braved the frigid weather to attend the service on the Sunday afternoon. The officiants were Rev. Russell Mitchell-Walker of Eastside United Church and Rev. Lynn Robertson of Bread of Life Lutheran Church, both of whom worship at Living Spirit Centre.
